Biden hosts his predecessor and successor at White House before historic inauguration
President Biden
and President-elect Donald Trump have left the White House to head to the U.S. Capitol for the 60th Inaugural Ceremony.
The Biden’s welcomed the Trumps at the White House for a traditional tea before the four headed to the Capitol separately to welcome Trump in to the top job at the 47th President of the United States.
First Lady Jill Biden and Melania Trump were first seen being loading into a limo to head over to the Capitol ahead of their husbands.
Lawmakers, guests and foreign dignitaries alike have piled into the Capitol’s Rotunda after the Inauguration Day ceremony was moved indoors due to the below freezing temperatures on Monday.
President Barack Obama walked into the Capitol rotunda alone for the inauguration after the Clintons and the Bushes, after the Obama office revealed his wife Michelle would not be joining him for the swearing-in of President Donald Trump.
Supporters of Donald Trump massed in the nation’s capital this weekend to welcome back the president-elect— enduring lengthy drives, hours-long lines, and punishing winter weather for a chance to share in Trump’s second win.
Fox News Digital spoke to dozens of Trump backers who gathered in and around the Capital One arena in Washington, D.C. to attend the “Make America Great Again” rally hosted by the president-elect Sunday night— and again Monday for a modified inaugural viewing.
One Indiana man who drove from the Hoosier State to D.C. for the rally said he camped out at 10 p.m. Saturday night before the rally Sunday afternoon.
In an interview with Fox News, he said he had no regrets about his decision— gesturing to the plum post he had secured, right next to the stage.
He also wasn’t alone. Some 100 others had also opted to camp out, he estimated in the interview— a sense of camaraderie and commitment that was starkly on display in the rally.
The free event was a victory lap, both for the president and for his longtime fans. Rally-goers descended into Washington in droves, but
saw their endurance tested by the sheets of rain, sleet and snow that came in waves as temperatures plummeted, prompting D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to activate a city-wide hypothermia alert.
Not one of the supporters interviewed expressed any regrets about the cold they endured – even the people who had waited upward of nine hours to get in the door.
“I’d do it again,” one Florida woman told Fox News Digital of the lines, crowds, and stamina required for the duration of the hours-long rally. “I have no regrets.”
“We won. We won,” Trump said Sunday night, to roaring cheers. “Tomorrow at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of American decline, and we begin a brand new day of American strength, prosperity, dignity, and pride.”
“We put America first and it all starts tomorrow.”
Reported by Breanne Deppisch.
Soon-to-be first lady Melania Trump was donning a dark navy coat, dark navy hat with a white stripe, dark navy heels and black gloves as she and her husband, President-elect Donald Trump, left St. John’s Episcopal Church after a prayer service ahead of the inauguration.
Melania’s outfit is fitting for the cold weather currently in Washington, D.C., which has moved the inauguration indoors to the Capitol Rotunda for the first time in 40 years.
The couple has been welcomed by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, where they will share tea and coffee at the White House.
TRUMP TO BE SWORN IN ON BIBLE GIVEN TO HIM BY HIS MOTHER, AND THE LINCOLN BIBLE
“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump after the president-elect stepped out of the car.
While tea is a presidential transition tradition, it is a stark departure from four years ago, when Trump refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory or attend his inauguration.
This is an excerpt from an article by Pilar Arias.
Republican lawmakers
are reacting furiously to President Biden’s 11th-hour decision to pardon several allies who President-elect Trump and his circle have threatened retribution against, made hours before ceding power to the new commander in chief.
“Implication is that they needed the pardons,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “So, let’s call them all before Congress and demand the truth. If they refuse or lie – let’s test the constitutional ‘reach’ of these pardons with regard to their future actions.”
Biden announced early on Monday that he was issuing preemptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members and staff of the now-defunct House select committee on the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
BIDEN COMMUTES NEARLY 2,500 MORE SENTENCES IN FINAL DAYS OF PRESIDENCY
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., now the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee after Republicans swept the Senate and White House in November, pledged to investigate Fauci in particular with his new leadership power. Fauci has already been the subject of multiple inquiries and public attacks by Paul, who accused him of mismanaging the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other government officials. Fauci has consistently defended his actions, stating that they were solely guided by science.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Liz Elkind.
Former President Barack Obama was seen arriving at the U.S. Capitol Monday morning ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony.
Obama had previously confirmed his attendance in a statement to the Associated Press, which also noted former First Lady Michelle Obama would not be attending: “Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the upcoming inauguration.”
Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and their spouses will also be in attendance.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this post.
President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump traveled with their spouses to the White House and met briefly before making their way to the Capitol for swearing-in ceremonies.
After Trump has been sworn in and delivered his address, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will leave Washington, D.C. by plane before Trump, his family, and guests will take part in a luncheon which has been tradition since 1953.
At that point, another inaugural tradition will take place when Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance review the military troops who will lead a parade to the White House down Pennsylvania Avenue.
On Monday night, Trump will attend several inaugural balls including remarks at the Commander in Chief Ball which dates back to 1953.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed President Biden for pardoning “chief henchman” of pandemic vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
“One of Biden’s greatest abuses of power was the forcing of mRNA shots by executive fiat (which Florida successfully blocked). Now, on his way out the door, Biden pardons the chief henchman of that and so many other abuses. The swamp protects its own,” DeSantis said on Monday, Inauguration Day.
Biden pardoned Fauci on Monday just hours before he will exit the Oval Office and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn-in as the nation’s 47th president.
DeSantis championed bucking coronavirus lockdowns and vaccines amid the pandemic, which Fauci promoted while serving as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., resigned from his position in the House of Representatives Monday.
Waltz told Fox News he would be resigning on Inauguration Day prior to the announcement read on the House floor, bringing the majority down to 218 to 215 Democrats.
“As I prepare to assume my duties as National Security Advisor to the president-elect, Donald J. Trump, I hereby make my resignation official from the U.S. House of Representatives, effective January 20th, 2025,” the letter read. “I intend to serve out my term in the 118th Congress, and to be sworn into the 118th Congress. I have also submitted by notice to Governor Ron DeSantis to advise him on my resignation.”
Trump formally announced in November that he had selected Waltz to join his administration as National Security Adviser.
“Mike is the first Green Beret to have been elected to Congress, and previously served in the White House and Pentagon,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike served in the Army Special Forces for 27 years where he was deployed multiple times in combat for which he was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two with Valor.”
Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report.
During inauguration, first ladies traditionally accompany the president-elect to his swearing in. The role serves as a symbolic one as she prepares to take on the role of White House hostess, often planning and overseeing social events.
Throughout history, first ladies have made their own traditions during Inauguration Day
ceremonies, from debuting fashion statements from holding the Bible for the president-elect to be sworn in on to giving a tour of the White House to an incoming first lady.
Nancy Reagan managed to coin a shade of red as her own after donning a coat and hat in the color to President Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration.
She wasn’t the only first lady to make such a statement with her fashion.
In fact, the dress of the first ladies is of so much interest that their ensembles are frequently preserved and displayed by historical societies and museums.
Melania Trump
opened up in September 2024 in an interview with “FOX & Friends” where she revealed what prepared her for the role as first lady.
“I think nothing prepared me more to be first lady in front of the world than the fashion industry… It’s glamorous, but it’s at the same time very tough,” she said in an exclusive sit-down interview.
“Everybody judges you, [looks] at you a certain way. So it can be a mean world as well. So nothing prepared me more for this world than fashion. It gives you a thick skin.”
One former first lady who is reportedly bucking an inauguration tradition is Michelle Obama, who is not planning to attend Trump’s second swearing in.
The role of first ladies surrounding the inaugural ceremonies are not spelled out anywhere but have developed over the years.
Fox News’ Madeline Coggins and Gabriele Regalbuto contributed reporting.
President Biden shared his last selfie as commander in chief before his term officially ends, and President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
The Bidens are spending their final morning in the White House on Monday, Inauguration Day, posting a goodbye message to social media before Trump will be sworn in as president of the United States on Monday afternoon.
“One more selfie for the road. We love you, America,” Biden said in a post on X alongside a selfie with wife, Jill Biden.
Biden will soon have tea with Trump at the White House ahead of the inauguration ceremony at the U.S. Capitol building. Once the Biden’s leave the residence to attend Trump’s swearing-in, a moving team will have just a few hours to move them out, and the Trump’s back in.
Trump and incoming First Lady Melania Trump will officially move into the White House on Monday after attending the congressional luncheon.
President-elect Donald Trump will sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants.
Incoming White House officials told reporters in a press call that Trump will sign an order clarifying language in the 14th Amendment and stating that the federal government “will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States.”
It’s one of a slew of executive orders Trump will sign related to border security and illegal immigration on his first day in office.
Fox News Digital previously reported that Trump will order the deployment of U.S. troops to the southern border, stamp out Biden-era parole policies and designate international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Incoming officials also said that Trump will sign orders suspending refugee resettlement for 4 months and ending the ability for migrants to claim asylum by creating a removal process without the possibility of asylum.
He will also order the attorney general to seek capital punishment for murder of law enforcement and capital crimes committed by illegal immigrants, officials said.
Trump is expected to sign 10 executive orders related to border security and immigration today, on Inauguration Day.
President-elect Donald Trump will officially move into the White House on Inauguration Day.
Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, his second Inauguration Day. A ceremony will be held at the Capitol in Washington D.C., where both Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will take the oath of office.
But by the start of the ceremonies, the moving process will have already begun. Staff members have just hours to move the outgoing president, President Joe Biden, out – and Trump – in, with an entirely new set of furniture hand picked by the new president and first lady. Immediately after the congressional luncheon, Trump and first lady Melania Trump will move into the White House.
“I already packed. I already selected the furniture that needs to go in. So it’s, it’s very different, a transition, this time, second time around,” Melania Trump told Fox News.
While the President of the United States resides in the White House during their term, vice presidents and their families live in a different residence just a few miles away on the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory (USNO) in northwestern Washington, D.C.
Pope Francis shared his prayers and extended “cordial greetings” to President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his inaugural ceremony Monday morning.
“I ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples,” Pope Francis said in a message addressed to the president-elect.
“On the occasion of your inauguration as the forty-seventh President of the United States of America, I offer cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength, and protection in the exercise of your high duties,” his message read.
“Inspired by your nation’s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, it is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion.”
Pope Francis continued on to “ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples” amid “numerous challenges” and “the scourge of war.”
“With these sentiments,” Pope Francis continued, “I invoke upon you, your family, and the beloved American people an abundance of divine blessings.”
Pope Francis criticized Trump’s deportation policy just one day prior, saying Sunday on an evening television program, “If true, this will be a disgrace.”
“This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved,” the pope said of Trump’s planned deportations.
Tech giants Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos were spotted inside St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., as President-elect Donald Trump attended service ahead of his inauguration.
The tech giants previously each met with Trump after his win over Vice President Kamala Harris last year, and are in town for Trump’s swearing-in as the 47th president.
Trump was joined by members of his family, as well as Vice President-elect JD Vance
. Beginning Inauguration Day at St. John’s is a long-standing tradition for presidents. The church is located at Lafayette Square, which is just a short walk from the White House and has earned its nickname as the Church of the Presidents.
Trump will be sworn in as president at noon on Monday, before heading to the Capital One Arena for his inaugural parade. Trump’s second inauguration was moved indoors due to frigid weather.
President-elect Donald Trump visited St. John’s church in Washington, D.C., on Monday ahead of being sworn-in as the nation’s 47th president.
Trump was seen entering the church with former and upcoming first lady Melania Trump, and was joined by Vice President-elect JD Vance and members of his family.
Trump will be sworn in as president at the Capitol Rotunda on Monday afternoon before joining an inaugural parade at the Capital One Arena shortly after.
President-elect Donald Trump‘s second swearing-in marks the third time in U.S. history that an inauguration day falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a federal holiday established in 1986 that is celebrated each year on the third Monday of January. This year, both the inauguration and holiday celebrating the legacy of the civil rights leader will be held on the same day.
President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration in 1997 also fell on MLK Jr. Day, as did President Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013.
“Thirty-four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream that one day America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther King’s dream was the American Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our history has been built on such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century,” Clinton said of King during his 1997 address.
Obama took the oath office in 2013 year using two Bibles, one belonging to Martin Luther King Jr. and another that belonged to President Abraham Lincoln.
CNN commentator Van Jones said Monday that he feels “hopeless” about President-elect Donald Trump’s second term in office, citing action on immigration and the environment he said he expects will to be taken during Trump’s second term.
“He’s going to unleash this blitzkrieg of attacks on everything we care about,” Van Jones said of Trump.
“Immigrants, clean energy— there’s nothing we can do about it but watch this stuff,” he added.
His remarks come just hours before Trump’s Inauguration Day ceremony.
“I’m miserable, I’m sad, I’m frustrated, I’m mad at everybody,” Jones told other attendees on the panel.
Colleges and educational groups across the country are gearing up for President-elect Trump’s Inauguration Day by offering students mental health advice or a trip to Washington, D.C.
Educational institutions and college-affiliated groups are preparing for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration by offering mental health advice, delivering travel notices to international students, and organizing anti-Israel rallies.
Most schools will be closed on Inauguration Day,
Jan. 20, due to it falling on a federal holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Similar to Trump’s first inauguration and the weeks following his victory in the 2024 election, universities and education groups are offering different outlets for students on Monday.
Several anti-Israel college groups in Chicago are planning demonstrations. The University of Illinois Chicago’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJPUIC) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapters intend to hold an anti-Israel protest, according to social media posts. The groups will reportedly meet to “fight back against Trump’s racist and reactionary program,” wrote SJPUIC in a post on Instagram.
Other schools are offering mental health advice
ahead of the Republican’s swearing-in.
President-elect Donald Trump
traveled from Blair House to St. John’s Episcopal Church ahead of his inauguration as the nation’s 47th president.
Trump was joined by members of his family, as well as Vice President-elect JD Vance. Beginning Inauguration Day at St. John’s is a long-standing tradition for presidents. The church is located at Lafayette Square, which is just a short walk from the White House and has earned its nickname as the Church of the Presidents.
Trump will be sworn in as president at noon on Monday, before heading to the Capital One Arena for his inaugural parade. Trump’s second inauguration was moved indoors due to frigid weather.
President-elect Donald Trump on Monday will order the deployment of U.S. troops to the southern border, stamp out Biden-era parole policies and designate international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations— a slew of nearly a dozen executive orders designed to drastically overhaul U.S. border and immigration policy.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw obtained exclusive details of three of the expected 11 executive orders Trump will sign related to border security and immigration after he is inaugurated.
In one order, Trump will immediately direct the federal government to resume construction of the border wall.
That order will also end Biden-era parole policies, including the use of the CBP One app to parole migrants into the U.S., and the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV)— under which 30,000 nationals a month were allowed to fly in and be admitted under parole.
Nearly 1.5 million migrants have been allowed in the U.S. under those programs.
A second order will order U.S. troops to be deployed to the border under U.S. Northern Command and will “instruct the military” to prioritize U.S. borders and “territorial integrity” in strategic planning for its operations.
A third order will designate international cartels and organizations, including MS-13 and the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
“This Executive Order sends a clear message that the United States intends to exercise its sovereignty over its land and borders and that the Armed Forces have a role to play in protecting our borders,” Fox News is told.
An agitated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., (AOC) took to Instagram on the eve of the inauguration to make a series of rants related to President-elect Donald Trump.
A visibly agitated Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., had a busy day on social media on Sunday, taking to Instagram to make a series of rants related to President-elect Donald Trump.
She started out early scolding TikTok for sending a notification thanking “President Trump” for restoring the app.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned,” the notification stated.
In her Instagram stories, she says that Trump is not yet the president and is still currently a private citizen, suggesting that referring to him as such raises concerns about TikTok’s word. “First of all, Donald Trump is not president right now. He is a private citizen. He does not have access to presidential powers, he does not have the ability to do any of that,” AOC said.
This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News’ Christina Shaw.
President-elect Donald Trump said in a new video that his second term represents a “new chapter” for America and promises the American people that the country’s “best days are yet to come.”
Trump made the pledge in a video his team released Monday morning, hours before his swearing-in ceremony as the 47th president of the United States.
The video, titled “It all comes down to this: Inauguration Day 2025,” features the president’s journey from leaving office in 2021, to the FBI’s unprecedented raid on his Mar-a-Lago home, to days in court, to the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was nearly assassinated, to highlights from the campaign trail.
“If I give you one message to hold in your hearts today, it’s this: never ever give up,” Trump says in the video. Then, reporter voices reflecting on the “FBI raid at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence… Deadly force being authorized.”
“Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy,” Trump says, followed by clips of the news of his indictment from Special Counsel Jack Smith and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
President Donald Trump‘s first inauguration took place on Jan. 20, 2017.
Protestors created chaos across Washington D.C. ahead of Inauguration Day in 2017, shattering glass storefronts and torching cars, with police arresting more than 200 people in demonstrations that spanned several days.
Trump’s actual swearing-in on Capitol Hill and the parade to the White House happened, however, without any incident.
The day after Trump was sworn into office as the 45th president of the United States, several hundred thousand people from across the country descended on the nation’s capital to protest Trump’s presidency in the “Women’s March on Washington.”
Many of the protesters were indeed women, and were largely peaceful by comparison to the rioters who wreaked havoc in D.C. ahead of the inauguration. The march moved from the National Mall to the streets and took place as the newly inaugurated president attended a National Prayer Service after waking up in the White House for the first time.
Celebrities like America Ferrera, Madonna, Ashley Judd, Cher, Katy Perry, Amy Schumer, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Michael Moore, Debra Messing, Patricia Arquette, and more attended the protest.
Madonna, during that protest, said she had “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House.”
But Trump, in his inaugural day address called for a “new national pride” to heal divisions and asked for unity.
President Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley (Ret.), and others who some speculated may have faced investigations under the incoming Trump administration on Monday.
Biden’s pardons come just hours before he is set to depart the White House and President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office once again.
President Biden issued pre-emptive pardons for Dr. Anthony Fauci and others who may have faced scrutiny under the incoming Trump administration.
The line to celebrate President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration at Capital One Arena stretched four city blocks on Monday morning as excited supporters braved the cold for the historic event.
Susan from Michigan said she arrived at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday night and had been waiting outside for hours, dressed in six layers with a plastic bag around her head to fend off the chill. But she doesn’t mind the cold “because we need to support our president and our first lady.
Some in line have been drinking whiskey as the January air feels like 12 degrees. Others have been singing the national anthem to keep their spirits up.
Jackie Brown from Alabama said she arrived at 8:30 on Sunday night with her brother in law and nephew, but they ditched her because it was “too cold.”
The Capital One Arena can hold 20,000 people, but law enforcement officials have said more than 200,000 individuals had Inauguration Day tickets to the inauguration, a show of overwhelming support for the newly-elected president.
Tickets to attend presidential inaugurations are made publicly available through Congress. They are available at no cost, but there is a limited number to be dispersed.
A ticket to the inauguration allows attendees to see the president and vice president be sworn in on January 20, 2025, in person.
In order to request a ticket, people must go through their members of Congress or senators. Tickets are available in the weeks before the inauguration, and depending on the member, they could be open for requests even earlier.
Tickets are in very high demand, and not everyone who requests them can get one. However, people can still watch Inauguration Day. The ceremony can be viewed at the National Mall where large video screens will broadcast it to crowds gathered there.
Additionally, people can gather along the inaugural parade route. After being sworn in, President Donald Trump will ceremonially travel from the Capitol to the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue.
Inauguration Day is always held on Jan. 20, as per the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment states, “The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January.”
The amendment was ratified on January 23, 1933.
The Constitution originally dictated that presidents were to be inaugurated on March 4. And most of them have been.
However, the lengthy “lame duck” period began to present an issue for Congress as there were often pressing matters that needed to be addressed.
Further, some of the original justifications for the March date had been remedied, such as travel time and news regarding the election results being spread across the country.
The date of January 20th was decided on, as it would significantly move up the event but also still allows time for certification to take place and any disputes to be settled.
The first president to be inaugurated on Jan. 20 was Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.
Donald Trump
will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on Monday.
President-elect Donald Trump
will call on all Americans to act with courage and restore the vitality of the nation in his inaugural address on Monday.
“I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success. A tide of change is sweeping the country,” Trump will say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks that were shared with Fox News Digital.
That change will come swiftly, with Trump expected to sign more than 200 executive actions on Inauguration Day, covering his policy priorities on border security, energy, reducing the cost of living for families, ending diversity, equity and inclusion policies across the federal government and more.
“Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense,” Trump will say.
“My message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor, and the vitality of history’s greatest civilization.”
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.
Inauguration Day now takes place on Jan. 20, or the 21st if the former date falls on a Sunday, but that was not always the case.
The first inauguration of a U.S. president came on April 30, 1789, when George Washington was sworn in as commander-in-chief.
The date was moved to March until 1937, when the January tradition began.
Most Americans who have been to or watched a presidential inauguration are also familiar with it taking place facing the national mall and Washington Monument, a tradition first started by former President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Much of the pomp and circumstance of the day is governed by tradition, not the Constitution.
The first inaugural parade, for example, was held by Washington in 1789 when he journed from Mount Vernon to New York.
According to a website on inaugural history, it was Thomas Jefferson who made the parade a formal affair.
Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1937 inauguration was the first televised parade, the website said.
“After four years of inflation, chaos at our borders, and weakness on the world stage, the United States is turning the page. President Trump’s inauguration will usher in a new era focused on American strength – including a strong economy, a strong border and a strong military,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., writes in an op-ed for Fox News Digital.
“I expect we will see the president take action immediately to secure the border and undo Biden administration policies that threaten America’s energy security. And Republicans in Congress will work tirelessly to amplify his efforts.
“We are already hard at work on legislation to accomplish two of our biggest priorities – providing the resources necessary to secure the border and extending the tax relief
Republicans passed during the first Trump administration.
“The Senate took an initial step on border security this past week with consideration of the Laken Riley Act, which will ensure that illegal aliens who steal, assault a law enforcement officer, or kill or seriously injure another person are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement instead of being allowed out on the streets.
“We’re looking to pass the bill in the Senate Monday and get it to the president’s desk shortly thereafter. Congressional Republicans will also deploy the Congressional Review Act to undo burdensome Biden administration regulations.
“The Senate is also hard at work making sure President Trump has the team he needs in place. Senate committees have held hearings on 12 of President Trump’s nominees so far, with more on the way.”
“…in this moment of President Trump’s second inauguration, our country has a bright, new opportunity to come together and come roaring back once again. If President Trump succeeds, all of us will succeed together,” House Speaker Mike Johnson writes in an op-ed for Fox News Digital.
“It’s no secret that the last four years have been needlessly difficult for the American people. Joe Biden’s
open-border policies have left our cities ransacked and our state budgets bankrupted. Fentanyl has poured into our schools and neighborhoods and poisoned our children. 40-year high inflation has left Americans poorer and produced interest rates that put homeownership out of reach for young people. Over-regulation has strangled our industries. Virtually every policy decision of the Biden White House has put America last.
“But with Donald Trump, a new Golden Age can be realized. He has promised to make America safe, strong, and prosperous again. He has proven before he can fulfill those promises. Life will be better for every family in his second term. We have a plan to get there.”
That plan includes deregulation, border security, promoting fossil fuel industries and rooting out “woke” ideologies from the federal government.
“Common sense will be a central theme of Trump’s presidency,” Johnson wrote.
Top members of the three branches of government will come together in a rare display of national unity and tradition when the presidential and vice-presidential oaths of office are delivered at Monday’s inauguration. A swear-in rookie, and perhaps funny hats, will be indispensable parts of the ceremonies.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh will continue a nearly 240-year-old tradition of administering the oaths to President-elect Donald Trump
and his No. 2, JD Vance. The other seven members of the high court are expected to attend the event in the Capitol Rotunda, all in their judicial robes.
Whatever political differences exist, they surely will not be on display at this most cordial and dignified of ceremonies. After all, the first person the president thanks will likely be the chief justice. But an undercurrent of tension remains.
During his first run for high office in 2016, candidate Trump took the unusual step of attacking a member of the federal judiciary, labeling Roberts “an absolute disaster” among other personal insults. This will be the “Chief’s” fifth presidential swearing-in, his second with Trump.
The choice of Kavanaugh is no surprise: incoming second lady Usha Vance clerked for Kavanaugh when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.
She then went on to a prestigious law clerkship at the Supreme Court with Roberts. Sources say Kavanaugh gave an especially strong job recommendation for Usha Vance to his now bench colleague.
In an August interview with “Fox and Friends,” Usha Vance said Kavanaugh was “such a good boss” and “decent person” who “hired people from all over the political spectrum.”
“My experience working for him was overwhelmingly positive,” she added.
Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas are among recent justices who have performed similar vice-presidential swear-in honors.
This is an excerpt from an article by Shannon Bream and Bill Mears.
Several traditions on Inauguration Day are dedicated to reaffirm the importance of the peaceful transition of power, from White House staff to the commanders-in-chief.
The cooks and cleaners who aid the president and their family every day traditionally take time to say goodbye to the White House’s outgoing residents before public events begin, hours before meeting with the new first family, according to White House History.
It’s also common for the outgoing first lady to give her successor a tour of the East Wing. Notably, Melania Trump
bucked this particular tradition with Jill Biden, and it’s not clear if the latter will do the same.
The departing president also is normally known to leave a letter for their successor to open after being sworn in, the contents of which historically are largely undisclosed.
The outgoing president attending the new president’s inauguration is also generally seen as a cornerstone of the peaceful transition of power on Inauguration Day, though this does not always occur.
Just before noon on Monday inside the U.S. Capitol, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States.
Two and a half months after his convincing election victory over Vice President Harris, the president-elect returns to office in what will symbolize his reinvention and redemption four years after being ushered out of the White House by the American electorate.
“We put America first, and it all starts tomorrow,” Trump told thousands of supporters jam-packed into Washington, D.C.’s, Capitol One Arena at his inauguration eve rally. “We begin a brand-new day of American strength and prosperity, dignity and pride.”
President Biden, Harris, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Republican and Democrat members of Congress, foreign dignitaries, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos – three of the wealthiest men in the world – other tech and business executives and some high-profile celebrities will crowd into the U.S. Capitol’s Rotunda for Trump’s inauguration, which will be held indoors for the first time in four decades due to an arctic blast that’s sweeping much of the nation.
After Trump’s inaugural address, there will be a rapid-fire series of events, including a formal farewell for Biden and Harris as they leave the Capitol. Minutes later, members of Congress will watch as Trump and JD Vance, the nation’s new vice president, take part in a signing ceremony followed by an inaugural lunch and then a review of the troops.
Trump then returns to Washington, D.C.’s, downtown arena for an abbreviated parade, which was moved indoors because of the frigid weather, in front of thousands of supporters. After that, the new president heads to the White House for an Oval Office ceremony before making his way to the traditional inaugural balls in the evening.
Trump is also expected to get to work immediately, signing more than 200 executive actions on his first day in office, as Fox News Digital first reported Sunday.
“I will act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” Trump vowed at his inauguration eve rally. “You’re going to see executive orders that are going to make you extremely happy, lots of them, lots. We have to set our country on the proper course.”
Trump will deploy military to border and end Biden parole policies in Day 1 blitz
EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Trump on Monday will order the deployment of U.S. troops to the southern border, stamp out Biden-era parole policies and designate international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations — in a slew of nearly a dozen executive orders designed to drastically overhaul U.S. border and immigration policy.
Fox News obtained exclusive details of three of the expected 10 executive orders Trump will sign related to border security and immigration after he is inaugurated.
In one order, Trump will immediately direct the federal government to resume construction of the border wall, which was largely ended under the Biden administration. That order will also end Biden-era parole policies, including the use of the CBP One app to parole migrants into the U.S., and the parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV) — under which 30,000 nationals a month were allowed to fly in and be admitted under parole. Nearly 1.5 million migrants have been allowed in under CHNV and CBP One.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PLANNING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ARRESTS THROUGHOUT US ON ‘DAY ONE’
The order will also order government agencies to reinstate the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), known as the Remain-in-Mexico policy. That Trump-era policy, ended by the Biden administration, required migrants to stay in Mexico for the duration of their asylum hearings.
A second order will order U.S. troops to be deployed to the border under U.S. Northern Command and will “instruct the military to prioritize our own borders and territorial integrity in strategic planning for its operations.” It will direct the military to prioritize U.S. border and territorial integrity in strategic planning.
The Secretary of Defense will be required to provide a Unified Command Plan and military resources will be integrated with federal law enforcement and intelligence “to ensure seamless operations and maximum effectiveness,” according to a fact sheet on the order.
TRUMP DHS PICK NOEM PLEDGES TO END CONTROVERSIAL APP USED BY MIGRANTS ON ‘DAY ONE’
“This Executive Order sends a clear message that the United States intends to exercise its sovereignty over its land and borders and that the Armed Forces have a role to play in protecting our borders,” Fox News is told.
A third order will designate international cartels and organizations, including MS-13 and the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT). An FTO designation allows for targeted action against members, including financial penalties.
Declaring that the organizations function as quasi-governments in some regions, and flood the U.S. with criminals and drugs, the order will declare the groups a national security threat and invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to stop their operations.
The orders will be three of the expected 10 border-related executive orders that Trump is expected to sign on Monday. He is expected to announce some during his inauguration address, and others during signings at the White House.
It is the clearest sign yet from the incoming administration that it fully intends to deliver on its cornerstone campaign promise of securing the southern border and launching an historic mass deportation campaign.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
It comes after a years-long crisis at the southern border which began in 2021 and continued through into 2024, slowing down after increased action from Mexico and a June Biden executive order that prevented migrants from claiming asylum.
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Trump has appointed former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan as “border czar” to oversee border security and the deportation operation. He has also nominated South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as the next DHS secretary.
“Border security must remain a top priority,” Noem told lawmakers on Friday.
Biden preemptively pardons some of Trump’s biggest critics hours before inauguration
President Biden pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, Gen. Mark Milley, and others who some speculated may have faced investigations under the incoming Trump administration on Monday.
Biden’s pardons come just hours before he is set to depart the White House and President-elect Trump takes the oath of office once again. The pardon also applies to a litany of people involved in the January 6 select committee investigation.
In addition to the named individuals, the pardon applies to, “Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee.”
Notably, Special Counsel Jack Smith, former FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland are not included in the pardon, despite speculation that they may face backlash from the incoming administration.
HUNTER BIDEN PARDON: MEDIA TAKES LATEST BLOW TO CREDIBILITY WITH BOTCHED COVERAGE OF BROKEN PROMISE
Fauci accepted the pardon in a statement shortly after Biden announced the move, claiming he was subject to “politically motivated threats of investigation and prosecution.”
“Let me be perfectly clear: I have committed no crime and there are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of criminal investigation or prosecution of me. The fact is, however, that the mere articulation of these baseless threats, and the potential that they will be acted upon, create immeasurable and intolerable distress for me and my family. For these reasons, I acknowledge and appreciate the action that President Biden has taken today on my behalf,” Fauci wrote.
Milley thanked Biden in a similar statement on Monday.
“My family and I are deeply grateful for the President’s action today,” he wrote. “After forty-three years of faithful service in uniform to our Nation, protecting and defending the Constitution, I do not wish to spend whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights.
“I do not want to put my family, my friends, and those with whom I served through the resulting distraction, expense, and anxiety,” he added.
Condemnation of the move began to pour in almost immediately on Monday. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., blasted Biden’s legacy minutes after the order dropped.
“The guy who claimed he would ‘protect norms’ continues to bulldoze them and the Constitution until the bitter end. Biden truly is one of the worst Presidents in American history and will only be remembered as the guy between Trump’s two terms,” Schmitt wrote on X.
HUNTER BIDEN SAYS HIS MISTAKES WERE ‘EXPLOITED’ FOR POLITICAL SPORT, SAYS HE WON’T TAKE PARDON FOR GRANTED
Biden had teased the possibility of issuing pre-emptive pardons weeks ago in an interview with USA Today. Biden’s pardons at the end of his term have proven to be some of his most controversial actions as president, particularly the pardon for his son, Hunter Biden.
Biden had repeatedly vowed that he would not intervene on his son’s behalf, but he issued a blanket pardon regardless. The president later claimed that he had broken the promise after finding out Hunter had paid his back taxes.
Biden’s pardon of Hunter was defended in some corners as a natural move from someone protecting his own family, but many prominent figures derided it as a craven flip-flop that would damage the White House and the president’s legacy.
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“Everyone looks stupid,” Pod Save America co-host and ex-Obama aide Tommy Vietor said at the time. “Everyone looks like they are full of s—. And Republicans are going to use this to argue it was politics as usual when Democrats warned of Trump’s corruption or threat to the rule or the threat to democracy.”
Conor McGregor stunned by the ‘night and day’ response to Trump’s second presidency
UFC star Conor McGregor attended a ball ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States on Sunday night and spoke highly of him.
McGregor expressed optimism about the future of the U.S. in a red-carpet interview with reporters, according to BG on the Scene.
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“Amazing to be here. I’m very excited. Very optimistic about the future,” McGregor said. “And it’s a good time here in the United States. I was here the last time Donald Trump became president in 2016. And the energy and the response is night and day, which is a testament to how he’s done as a president, his last run, and how he’s handled himself since.”
McGregor praised Trump’s resiliency to get back up after a 2020 election loss and get back into the game. He expected Trump and his Cabinet to take a lot of action within the first 100 days.
When asked about what’s different this time, the Irishman said it felt like more Americans are in Trump’s corner.
TRUMP ‘EMBODIES WHAT BEING AN AMERICAN IS ALL ABOUT,’ UFC’S DANA WHITE SAYS
“Lessons learned. Hard lessons learned,” he said. “And a backing of his country now. I feel the people are backing him. And I’m excited to see him go do it. I hope he does, and I wish him all the best.”
McGregor also described America’s standing in the world after Trump’s victory.
“America is the superpower of the world. Long may it continue,” he said. “We love America in Ireland. I have as much love for America as I do for my country of Ireland. It has much ripple effect for the entire free world, the entire Western world.
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“And Ireland is going through its own issues at the moment and this tenure here that Donald Trump is about to undertake, will have big effects in Ireland.”
Soon-to-be first lady Melania Trump was donning a dark navy coat, dark navy hat with a white stripe, dark navy heels and black gloves as she and her husband, President-elect Donald Trump, left St. John’s Episcopal Church after a prayer service ahead of the inauguration.
Melania’s outfit is fitting for the cold weather currently in Washington, D.C., which has moved the inauguration indoors to the Capitol Rotunda for the first time in 40 years.
The couple has been welcomed by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, where they will share tea and coffee at the White House.
TRUMP’S 2ND PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION KICKS OFF IN DC AS FRIENDS AND FOES FLOCK TO NATION’S CAPITAL
“Welcome home,” Biden said to Trump after the president-elect stepped out of the car.
TRUMP TO BE SWORN IN ON BIBLE GIVEN TO HIM BY HIS MOTHER, AND THE LINCOLN BIBLE
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While tea is a presidential transition tradition, it is a stark departure from four years ago, when Trump refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory or attend his inauguration.
Melania, a Slovenian American former model, attracted attention during the first Trump administration for her striking style sense. French designer Hervé Pierre created her 2017 inaugural ball gown that is now on display at the National Museum of American History, according to the Smithsonian.
Pierre has served as a stylist for first ladies in the White House since the 1990s, the South China Morning Post reports.
Biden’s famous sunglasses mocked on TIME Magazine’s cover for Trump’s inauguration
Time magazine released its inauguration cover on Sunday ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, an animation of the incoming president shoving everything off the Oval Office Resolute desk along with the caption, “He’s Back.”
Time also published a piece with the cover headlined, “Donald Trump’s disruption is back.”
The president-elect was also named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2024. The magazine has traditionally awarded the honor to the winner of presidential elections, as President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received the award in 2020, and Trump also earned the recognition in 2016.
A pair of aviator sunglasses, which President Biden is known to wear frequently, are also seen in the illustration being swiped off the desk. Conservatives reacted to the cover on social media with glee as Trump prepares to cap his remarkable political comeback when he takes the oath of office.
TRUMP POSTS ‘HOW IT’S GOING’ MESSAGE CONTRASTING TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR COVER WITH MUGSHOT
Commentators pointed to the illustration’s caption, “He’s back,” and the symbolic departure of Biden from office.
“Trump, of course, is himself an unpredictable force for change. Whatever one thinks of him, he has altered America in ways unimaginable a decade ago,” The Time piece read. “He is arguably the most influential change agent to occupy the White House since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”
Others pointed to previous Time magazine covers of Trump, including the 2017 issue that similarly placed Trump behind the Resolute desk with the caption “nothing to see here.”
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., posted three clapping emoji’s on X in reaction to the cover.
The Time piece read that it was on Trump and America to uphold the oath of office.
“As he takes office for the second time, the pledge at the center of his Inauguration spectacle now seems less an expression of insecurity by the framers than one of wisdom. And those anxious about what is coming can be glad that on Aug. 27, 1787, the convention delegates decided to broaden their original version of the President’s oath from a simple promise to ‘faithfully execute the duties’ of the office to a further commitment to ‘preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ It is on Trump, and America, to ensure that oath is kept,” the piece concluded.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF MEDIA AND CULTURE
Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who was briefly nominated by Trump to run the Justice Department before he took himself out of the running, reacted, “Love it.”
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Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange after he was named the magazine’s person of the year last month.
“Since he began running for President in 2015, perhaps no single individual has played a larger role in changing the course of politics and history than Trump,” Time wrote. “Trump is once again at the center of the world, and in as strong a position as he has ever been.”
Trump to revoke security clearances of intel officials who backed Hunter laptop lie
President-elect Donald Trump vowed to revoke the security clearances of the 51 national security officials who infamously claimed that the Hunter Biden laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” – many of whom were cable news commentators — on day one of his second term in the White House.
The New York Post reported that they obtained emails showing Hunter Biden had introduced his father Joe to a top executive at Ukrainian energy company Burisma less than a year before he pressured Ukrainian officials to fire a prosecutor investigating the company in a bombshell Oct. 2020 article.
Shortly thereafter, 51 former national security officials issued a public letter stating that the laptop was like a “Russian information operation” despite the fact that they did not have “any evidence of Russian involvement.”
TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE
Despite the fact that the claims suggested in this letter were never corroborated, many of its signatories went on to become frequent contributors to cable news networks, oftentimes using their positions of authority to further bash Trump.
Chief signatory of the letter, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper went on to become a national security analyst on CNN. In his 2019 book “Facts and Fears” Clapper said that Russia “affected the outcome” of the 2016 election, writing that “to conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense, and credulity to the breaking point.”
Former CIA Director John Brennan also signed the letter. Brennan appears regularly on MSNBC as a senior national security analyst and has used his platform to attack Trump on more than one occasion. In a Feb. 2024 appearance on the network, Brennan claimed that Russia is using Republican politicians “as tools.”
COMER REQUESTS TRUMP DOJ PROSECUTE JAMES BIDEN FOR MAKING ‘FALSE STATEMENTS’ DURING IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY
“It’s so appalling that there is growing sympathy in the Republican Party and among the MAGA base for Mr. Putin and Russia, I’m sure Ronald Reagan is rolling over in his grave right now,” Brennan said.
Brennan went on to claim that Trump is “sympathetic” and “intimidated” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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Over the summer, Fox News Digital asked all 51 officials whether they regretted signing on to the now-debunked letter.
“No,” Obama-era DNI James Clapper responded.
Despite claims from former officials that the laptop had the hallmarks of Russian disinformation, Fox News Digital reported that federal investigators with the Department of Justice knew in December 2019 that Hunter Biden’s laptop was “not manipulated in any way” and contained “reliable evidence.” But they were “obstructed” from seeing all available information, according to an IRS whistleblower involved in the probe nearly a year before the former intelligence officials and President Biden declared it was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.